Questions About Florida Resident Rates

My parents are buying a place in Florida and I'm interested in the unique annual pass and ticketing options available for Florida Residents. Disney seems to have different requirements in terms of proof of eligibility based on whether you're a full-time or part-time resident.

For part-time, my understanding is that I'd only need to show my Canadian passport as well as a Florida Utility bill in my name. Has anybody done this?

I'm also wondering if the requirements are the same for the passes as the cruise line.

Advertisement

Oh, I know that for the moment the rates have been discontinued but I suspect that's due to the ships all being repositioned for the next year or so creating less supply in Florida. I was still wondering what the rules are when they are offered.

For a residency discount provided by any cruise line, you need to provide proof that you are a resident of that state/province, or Country. So if a cruise line is offering a residency discount for say residents of Forida, you will need to provide proof (photo ID) that you are a resident of that State. If you are showing up with a Canadian passport, Canadian driver's license, Canadian accent and no photo ID proof that you are a resident of Florida, there is going to be a problem, and it is not a fun way to start a vacation.

Also on a cruise, you are going to other countries besides the States. You will be leaving the States. It's going to create an issue when you claim to be a resident of Florida to get the discount and then when you have to put in all your immigration information including your current address and it is Canadian, then Mickey will be scratching his head, immigration will be scratching there heads and so will the lovely folks at homeland security. For a cruise, your immigration info is very important, and not worth putting red flags all over yourself.

However, as I referred to in my initial post, Disney distinguishes between full-time residents and part-time and their wording from their website seems to indicate it's open to citizens of another country who own property in Florida.

From their site:
"For part-time Florida residents:

Must have a driver's license or state photo ID card from another state, or a non-US Passport and at least one of the following items which does show a Florida address:

Monthly mortgage statement
Current homeowner's insurance policy or bill, current automobile registration, insurance policy or bill or current utility bill (Power/Phone/Cable/Water).
Statement from a financial institution showing checking, savings or investment information or mail from a Federal or Florida State, County or City government agency."

I think they are only looking at residency and not citizenship.

The above quote is in regards to their florida resident discounts at the parks and resorts. I would have imagined that it was the same for their cruise line - but it appears I've thought wrong.

Sorry, I am not seeing on the site information from the Disney website about part-time residents in the validation requirements to qualify to purchase Florida resident tickets. Here is a link though from the Disney website that outlines the requirements for Florida residents to purchase tickets. I hope it helps and you can decide if you qualify or not. When it talks about corresponding photo ID, I don't know if they will accept something from out of state.

My family has owned a property in Florida as well as a business for over 20 years and we have not been able to qualify for the Florida resident tickets. We do not have any state issued ID and my husband at this point is not interested in putting his name on any of the mortgage documents or bank accounts for my parent's home or business.

Just an FYI. For families that are interested in doing a Disney cruise because they would love to experience the cruise line and are not picky about the itinerary, right now there is a Canadian residency rate for a number of Mexican Riviera sailings on the beautiful Disney Wonder from January 8 to Feb 26, 2012. I have booked a couple of families for the new year and the savings are pretty decent.

Hi! Out of curiosity, can you tell me where the information on the Canadian residency special rate is for the Disney Mexican Riviera cruises in early 2012 can be found? We are going in February and have not seen this information!

Must mention booking code CAN at time of booking.
Proof of Canada residency required at time of booking.
Government Taxes and Fees and Port Adventures are not included.
*This offer cannot be combined with any other offers, discounts or onboard credits. Certain restrictions may apply. The number of staterooms allocated for this offer is limited. See Disney Cruise Line brochure for cruise details and applicable terms and conditions.

Just as an update to this thread and for the information of people doing future searches.

Yes, as my original post suggested: a Canadian passport and an utility bill proving proof of residency or a bank account statement showing proof of residency are all that you need.

The passport can be from anywhere and is meant to verify the identity of the person making the claim. It's simply a process of looking at a picture and making sure you are you.

The statement or bill with your name verifies your Florida residency and eligibility.

I purchased my Florida Resident annual pass today at Downtown Disney and this was how it was explained to me.

------

As for the cruiseline, they follow the exact same process for verifying rate eligibility and what you use for "proof of residency" for the rate has nothing to do with the information they document into your APIS (Advanced Passenger Information System) information.

What you use to prove rate eligibility has nothing to do with the cruise documentation and in no way relates to homeland security, immigration or anything like that. It's simply verifying your eligible for a good deal. Passport information is a separate process.